Painkiller (6:05)

“Painkiller” is the the first song on British metal band Judas Priest’s 1990 album, Painkiller, and was released as the first single off the album later that year.

The song is about The Painkiller. The Painkiller himself is one of a series of fictional messiahs created by Judas Priest. He is described as a metal messiah sent to the world to destroy evil and rescue mankind from destruction. He is believed to be inspired by the fallen angel from the Sad Wings of Destiny album cover that Judas Priest recorded early in their musical years. The most noticeable feature of the Painkiller, besides his metal body is that he rides the metal monster: a motorcycle with a dragon for the chassis and two circular saws for wheels.

The song was covered by death metal band Death on their 1998 album Sound of Perseverance. This version also appeared on the Judas Priest tribute album Legends Of Metal - A Tribute To Judas Priest Volume II. The brazilian power metal band Angra has covered the song too on the album Freedom Call, released in 1996. Also, more recently, the British thrash/power metal band Biomechanical did a cover of the song, featuring Chris Tsangarides, who produced the Painkiller album.

The first guitar solo in the song is played by Tipton, and the second final guitar solo is played by Downing.

Rob Halford sings Painkiller exclusively in a screeching falsetto.